The Book of Shadows
by AC111
Summary: A few months after the events of My Life as a Teenage Genius Jimmy is still plauged with the memory of Sterch, haunting him in his dreams and in his thoughts. Is Jimmy loosing it or is there truly a plot at work from beyond the grave?
1. Haunted

Authors Note: Yes, it's finally here, the sequel to My Life as a Teenage Genius, it's...

**The Book of Shadows**

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of the characters from the show; any characters not in the show are my invention.

Note: This is the sequel to "My Life as a Teenage Genius" so I suggest reading that first.

It was a quiet morning in Retroville and local boy genius Jimmy Neutron was lying awake in his bed.

The last couple of months for Jimmy had had their ups and downs. First the crazy dean from his former mental hospital had kidnapped him and his two friends Kelly and Nigel. Then he brought them to a penthouse outside of Retroville. Then his parents had brought the ransom money to him. In the final showdown he and Jonathan Sterch, his kidnaper, had had a struggle. Then the biggest horror came when he had accidentally knocked Sterch off the building sending him to his death.

The memory of Sterch's death still haunted Jimmy.

Jimmy got up and went to the bathroom. He surveyed his face in the mirror; he had dark circles under his eyes and he looked much like he did last year when he was too guilty to sleep.

Then suddenly his image in the mirror turned to Sterch's.

Sterch grabbed Jimmy from through the mirror.

" Ha ha ha. Right where I want you now Jimmy." Sterch said.

Jimmy tried to free himself but Sterch held tight.

Sterch tightened his grip on Jimmy's throat.

" I could kill you right now." He said. " I could crush your wind pipe and then you'd be dead. But what fun would that be?"

He dropped Jimmy onto the ground.

" I will make you pay." He said then he disappeared.

Jimmy shot up in bed, breathing deeply.

He tried to calm down but he couldn't.

In the dream Sterch had said he would " Make me pay." But how could he?

Sterch was dead and he was never coming back.

Hadn't he promised to himself that he wouldn't live in the past but now his mind couldn't get off of Sterch, he often thought of the rooftop of the penthouse hotel. He thought of what it might have been like if he hadn't tripped Sterch.

He lied back down and fell asleep.

The next morning Jimmy consoled his feelings with Sora, who lived right near him.

" Jimmy it's probably from guilt." Sora said.

" Maybe but what if it's not." He said. " It didn't feel like a dream. After I woke up I felt like I was just being strangled."

" That's nonsense Jimmy. Sterch is dead."

" You're right, I was probably imagining it."

He walked away waving goodbye.

Later that day Jimmy was walking through town with his friends

Jimmy wasn't listening as Libby droned to them of her newest CD or whether or not that cute boy in her algebra class liked her. He was too busy thinking, that dream of Sterch was haunting him.

There was a little voice whispering in his head _" You can not escape me. Light is your only salvation." _

" No," Jimmy thought. " No, it was an accident!"

Jimmy was shaken out of his mind by Cindy's voice.

"Jimmy are you okay?"

"I don't know," He said. " I've felt strange lately, I can't figure out why."

"What's been up with you lately Jimmy?" Cindy asked. "After the Sterch incident you've been acting really weird."

"It's hard to explain, I've tried to forget and move on but it seems like no matter how much I try and push it into the back of my mind I can never forget it."

"Jimmy why do you always have to over-exaggerate everything?" Sheen asked.

"I'm not over-exaggerating."

"There you go again."

"Butt out Sheen," Libby said. "Can't you see Jimmy and Cindy are trying to have a conversation?"

"Fine take their side."

"As I was saying," Jimmy stopping any arguments from breaking out. "I'm going through some weird times but I'll be okay."

"You promise?" Cindy asked looking into his eyes.

He leaned down and kissed her softly, mirroring the events back at Silver Lake only reversed. "I promise."

"Aw gross!" Sheen exclaimed.

They continued walking and the conversation switched back to normal. Jimmy's thoughts reverted back to his dream. Could it have been real? Could Sterch possibly be alive in any way, shape, or form? No, he couldn't, spirits didn't exist; they were just made up for kid's stories, there was no other explanation. And yet, somewhere deep down in his mind he doubted this, hadn't weirder stuff happened to him, hadn't it?

That night at home he felt nervous all throughout the day little voices had been whispering in his head, voices he couldn't suppress, voices he couldn't ignore.

"Are you okay honey?" He looked up to see him mom. "You don't look well."

"I'm okay mom, I'm just going through some hard times; you can understand that, right?"

"Are you sure Jimmy? Ever since Sterch died you've been different."

"I don't want to talk about right now."

"I'll let you tell me when you're ready."

"Thanks mom."

He walked upstairs up to his room; he changed and got into bed, unsure if tonight he'd get a halfway decent sleep.

He lied down staring at the ceiling above him; he slowly closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes next the ceiling wasn't visible, he slowly got up looking around him.

The ground was covered in fog; around him the sky was a dark green color. Where was he? He then looked around and he knew where he was.

"No," he said. "Not here."

He was on the roof of penthouse suite outside Retroville where Sterch had fallen to his death.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" The deep, menacing voice filled the void.

Jimmy turned around to see Sterch towering over him, hatred burning in his eyes, a permanent scowl on his face.

"Sterch!"

Sterch picked him up and started walking towards the edge; he was going to drop him off the building this time.

Jimmy tried to kick him in the shins again and free himself, but Sterch was unaffected.

"That won't work this time Jimmy."

He struggled to break free, to do something, anything.

The edge of the building drew closer and closer, he was helpless, he was going to die, and in the morning when his mom came to wake him up his eyes would be glassy, his chest unmoving, his mouth in the form of a scream of terror.

Sterch reached the edge of the building; he started laughing maniacally, his scowl transforming into an insane grin.

"SEE YOU IN HELL!" He exclaimed dropping Jimmy down into the void.

He fell, rows of windows flying by him until all the windows disappeared into nothing but a fog, and then he saw the ground coming, he was going to die, he shut his eyes in fear.

He opened his eyes and saw himself back in his room; everything was the same as it was before he went to sleep, no ghosts, no ghouls, no demons, and no Sterch.

He let out a sigh of relief.


	2. The Book of Shadows

Jimmy got out of bed yawning and looked out the window, the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky.

He got dressed, went downstairs and grabbed something to eat.

"Have a nice day honey." His mom said as he walked out the door.

"Will do mom." He said.

He walked across the street to Cindy's and knocked on the door.

Cindy opened the door, still in her pajamas.

"What do you want Jimmy?" She asked.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the Candy Bar with me."

"I'd love to," She said. "Just let me get changed."

"Okay."

5 minutes later Cindy came outside.

"Let's get going." Jimmy said.

The two walked into town in conversation.

"So how have you been Jimmy?"

"I'm okay," He said. "I've been better."

"Why?"

"I had another dream last night."

"Another Sterch dream?"

"Right."

"But why do you think these dreams are happening?"

"I don't know but they always play out the same way, first Sterch appears and blames me for his death, I try to tell him it's an accident, he says I'm lying, then tries to kill me the same way he did, then I wake up."

"That's weird."

"It gets weirder," He said. "After I wake up I always feel like I went through what happens in the dream, except that I never truly die, I either wake up or Sterch says he's extending my suffering."

"That's scary."

The two arrive at the Candy Bar and take a seat.

"I still wonder what could be causing these dreams."

"Sora said it was guilt but I'm not sure."

"The mind works in strange ways."

"Well if my mind is trying to tell me I still feel guilty after what I did to Sterch then it should try being a little less straightforward."

"Well you're the genius, why don't you try playing psychoanalyst."

"Maybe I will."

Suddenly a voice filled his thoughts. _"I will get you, and there isn't anything you can do to stop it."_

"Shut up" He thought trying to silence the voice in his head.

"Why don't you just surrender to the darkness, your death will then be quick and painless."

"Get out of my head." He thought even louder trying to drown out the voice.

"Then you resign yourself to a slow and painful death, fighting right down to the end; well then your choice is made."

And the voice disappeared.

Jimmy shook his head clearing his mind and then he heard Cindy talking to him.

"Have you talked to Kelly or Nigel about these dreams?"

"No, I haven't talked to either of them in a while."

"Maybe you should, they were with you throughout the whole Silver Lake ordeal. If anyone would have any idea they would, maybe even David he's smart."

"I think I'll take you're advice."

The two stood up and left.

They talked very little on the way home leaving Jimmy to think the whole time.

When he really got in depth into the dreams he could see the reoccurring events, Sterch always seemed real, the whole dreams seemed real for that matter, and Sterch always said he would wait to make Jimmy pay. But Sterch couldn't do that; that he was sure of.

Once he got home he decided to take Cindy's advice and called up Kelly.

"Hello?"

"Hi Kelly, it's Jimmy."

"Jimmy. What is it?"

"Can you call Nigel and we can all talk."

"Sure," She said. "One minute while I triple line."

Kelly's voice disappeared for a second and then came back.

"Okay Nigel is on the line."

"What is it Jimmy?"

"I wanted to talk to you two about Sterch."

"What do you want to tell us about Jimmy?" Kelly asked.

"Since Sterch died I've been having nightmares about Sterch, he always seems real and always says he's going to make me pay."

"It could be guilt." Kelly suggested.

"Everyone's suggested that and I don't think that one's reasonable anymore, the first few times I believed it but now the dreams are getting more and more frequent, and each time Sterch gets even more insane, he always seems to talk about saving me, almost like there was some plot."

"It could still be guilt," Nigel said. "Sometimes people are haunted for the rest of their lives by traumatic events."

"And how could Sterch have a plot, he's dead." Kelly added.

"I don't know but hasn't weirder stuff happened," Jimmy said. " I mean nothing ever seems to be normal in the life of Jimmy Neutron."

"Especially when you start talking in the third person." Nigel said.

"Back on topic," Kelly said. "I think we shouldn't call anything on this just yet. If another dream happens tonight call us up right away, or at least call me, and tell us exactly what happens, if we know every detail we can better figure out what it means."

"Well someone has been listening in psychology." Jimmy said. "Goodbye for now."

"Bye." Kelly said.

"Same with me." Nigel said.

The three hung up.

Jimmy sat down on the bed and decided to talk to David too, but not right now, David had a knack of delivering bad news even if it was unintentional. He needed a moment to just lie down and think by himself without anyone else, no voices, no chatter from friends.

He lied down thinking , but not about Sterch, he had talked about that enough to last a lifetime, instead he thought about school, it would be starting again soon, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing; on the bright side at least this year that had nothing to hate him for, he practically had his own fan-club; on the dark side of things was that there would be many rumors circulating again and he might not have any time to himself.

There were many other things to think about but then the voices started again.

"It's getting dark Jimmy, you can't escape me for long"

"I won't let you keep controlling me."

"You don't have a choice. Your fate was decided he minute you killed me."

"You can't do anything to me if I don't go to sleep."

"Dear boy, you have no idea what I am capable of."

Jimmy blocked out the voice. Enough was enough he decided to go to the lab and figure out what was going on.

He used the express route and went up to his computer.

"Vox, activate brain scanner program 8.A"

"Activating program 8.A," The voice of Vox said.

A table emerged and a cable attached to a helmet like device lowered.

He quickly got on the table and put the helmet on.

The program started scanning. Once this was all sorted out he would know what the dreams meant and why they were happening and could stop this.

The program was running as usual when suddenly the room around him dissolved into nothingness. Then the wires around the room wrapped around his arms and legs like snakes, he couldn't move, he knew what was coming next.

Sterch appeared and walked up to him.

"Look at you here helpless, just waiting for me."

Jimmy struggled trying to wake up, to stop this but it was no use.

"Well then if you're so eager to talk then let's get down to business."

Jimmy struggled and struggled praying that he would wake up and end this horrible nightmare before something happened.

"You know after you killed me I couldn't believe it. Just think of it me Jonathan Sterch killed by a mere child."

"I didn't mean to kill you." Jimmy said struggling. "It was all an accident."

"You don't understand," Sterch said. "Now as I look back I'm glad you killed me, it's opened up wonderful, endless possibilities. These are nothing more than dominoes in a line being pushed over. By killing me you pushed the first domino that cause a chain reaction leading to your ultimate demise. You've already started the chain and now you can't stop it. I will tell you though that the Book of Shadows is the key."

Sterch disappeared into the darkness and the next thing Jimmy knew he was awake in his room. He looked at the clock, it was 10 p.m. Kelly was probably still up. He needed to tell her about his dream.

He quickly dialed her number.

"Hello?" Kelly asked sleepily.

"Kelly, it's Jimmy, we need to talk."

"What is it?" She asked suddenly sounding more awake.

"I had another dream."

"Already?"

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"I dreamt I was in my lab doing a brain scan when the lab disappeared and suddenly wires wrapped around my limbs, then Sterch appeared and said he was glad I killed him because it gave him endless possibilities, then he said I had already started a chain reaction to my demise. He mentioned one last thing before I woke up… it was something about the Book of Shadows."

Spooky. I'll try and have the next chapter up soon. While you wait why don't you write a review.


	3. School never changes

"The Book of what?" Kelly asked.

"The Book of Shadows."

"I'll try and find out what it means, in the meantime you still need to try and figure out what the dreams mean."

"I think Sterch already told me what the dream means."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Sterch told me too much in that dream, he told me his entire plot, and now I can't ignore it. No dream is that specific, Sterch is plotting something and whatever it is it involves the Book of Shadows."

"Jimmy, Sterch can't be plotting anything, he's dead."

"Then how else do you explain this dream, guilt doesn't cause someone to dream that someone tells them specific details of a plot to kill you."

"He never specifically said he was going to kill…"Jimmy cut her off.

"What do you call bringing my demise? Sterch wasn't one to mince words."

"That is true."

"So are you going to agree with me and help me out?"

"I'll look up the Book of Shadows but I'm not agreeing that it's some plot by Sterch."

"Good enough for me. Bye."

"Bye"

The two hung up.

Feeling curious Jimmy decided to try and do some research himself.

He got on his computer and entered in the Book of Shadows into a search drive.

No results, he hadn't expected any, from how Sterch had talked about it, it didn't sound like a very common item.

He wished he knew a better place to look but for now he decided to leave that up to Kelly.

Jimmy tried to think of what to do, he couldn't go to sleep or else Sterch would haunt him, and he couldn't risk exposing himself to Sterch.

"_What's the matter Jimmy?"_

"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up before you listen?"

"_Your friend won't find anything about the book."_

"You'd be surprised what my friends can do."

"_Do you honestly think I would take any chances in my plan, I've thought this all out."_

Jimmy ignored the voice, deciding that if he didn't respond Sterch would have nothing to say.

He changed into his pajamas and gotten into bed, if fate decided to put him into Sterch's hands he would be ready.

He slowly went to sleep, for once his mind felt calm, whether or not that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The next morning Jimmy woke up to his mom. He was glad there was no Sterch keeping him awake all night. Then he remembered today was the first day of school.

"Are you ready for your first day of school?" She asked.

"I'm ready mom." He said rolling out of bed.

He quickly got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. He grabbed something to eat and walked out the door.

He got to the bus stop, waiting there were Carl and Sheen.

"Hey Jimmy." Sheen said.

"Hey Sheen. Hey Carl." Jimmy said.

"So how have you been Jim?" Carl asked. "I barely talked to you all summer."

"Yeah well I had summer school for almost a month to make up for flunking 9th grade."

"Yeah, those were the worst four weeks of my life."

"But Sheen you've had to go to summer school every year since kindergarten, you think you would be used to it by now."

"You would think that but I keep flunking anyway."

Then the bus pulled up and the door opened.

He three got on the bus; they sat down with Samantha, David, Kelly, and Sora.

"Did you find anything about the book?" Jimmy asked Kelly.

"No, it doesn't seem like any source has even heard of it, the closest thing they had was the Book of Shadow Arts and that just turned out to be about some crappy role-playing game."

"What are you two talking about?" David asked.

Jimmy explained about the dream to David.

"I've never heard of any Book of Shadows, but the whole dream sounds weird."

"Yeah, the dreams only seem to get weirder."

Then the bus arrived at school.

Everyone stood up and with much groaning got off the bus.

Once they got off the bus the whole area around them went silent everyone staring at Jimmy.

Then tiny whispers could be heard, people talking to their friends behind their hands.

"The rumors never stop do they?" Jimmy asked Cindy.

"Well you have to admit they have no reason to stop, you never dispelled any rumors."

"Oh yeah, except that I didn't mean to bust that party, and that I had been innocent the whole time."

"Okay, other than that."

"Yeah but does that matter, they've had the whole summer can't they think of anything better to talk about."

"Oh well best to let them just decide out the rumors themselves; I don't really care, like I don't have more important things to do than just to discuss what happened on that building, as if I don't dream about I enough."

They walked past the all the groups of people walking straight into school.

Once in the school they were met with the same silence then whispering.

"Wow it's just like last year only now like me instead of hating me."

"Yeah, but are you sure it's any better."

"That's what I asked myself at the end of last year."

Jimmy split from the group and went to his locker.

Around the locker were several freshmen all waiting for him.

"Hello." He said to them.

"Hi Jimmy." One of them said to him.

"So what are you doing here?" He asked them.

"We…we wanted to know if all the stories about you are true."

"Which ones?"

"Did you really knock a guy off a building?"

"Yeah I did."

"And did you really bust an end of summer party?"

"Yeah," He got an idea. "But if you really want to know you should ask Kelly Lincoln, she was there."

"Really!"

"Yeah."

"Let's go." One of them said.

"See you Jimmy." Another said.

"Yep."

They ran off in a group.

Jimmy opened his locker and took out his books; he then headed off to class.

He was off to Biology class with Mrs. Davis, when he arrived in the classroom there were already many people there; sitting at lab tables in groups chatting about how their summer had been, why they wished they were still in bed, the like, when Jimmy entered the room it went silent, just as he had expected.

He went to the table where, to his surprise David was sitting.

"David, I didn't know you were in my class."

"You never asked my schedule."

"But I thought you'd be in some AP class; the only reason I'm not is because my GPA is in the toilet from last year."

"I thought about it but why would I want to be with a bunch of people who think they're better than everyone else when I could be with a real genius."

"You're too nice to me."

"I mean it, the only thing I hate about my schedule is that I never see Sam all day."

"That's what the high school system is supposed to do, split you up from your friends in a feeble attempt to try and get you to gain new ones."

"It's really stupid, all it does is make you not pay attention and think of all your friends."

"Couldn't agree with you more."

Then the bell rang and Mrs. Davis walked in.

"Quiet down please." She said as the announcements came on.

"Welcome back to another year at Retroville High School!" Principal Walker said. "Tryouts for the football team are on Wednesday in the gym at 3:30, cheerleading tryouts are on Thursday same time and place. We hope you have a wonderful year."

The announcements ended and Mrs. Davis began taking roll, when she reached Jimmy's name she paused.

"Jimmy Neutron," She said slowly as if trying to pronounce each syllable. "We have a celebrity in the class."

A few people snickered but quickly shut up after a glare from Mrs. Davis. She finished the roll and got straight to teaching.

"Can anyone tell what biology is?"

Jimmy raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Neutron."

"Biology is the study of living things and can also be simply the study of life."

"Congratulations you can read a definition."

A few more people snickered.

"In my class I want more than just memorization, memorization of facts is pointless if you have no idea what they mean or how they apply to the overall subject of biology. Now can anyone take Mr. Neutron's answer and put it in terms of what it means to everyday activities."

David raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Grayson."

"Biology applies to anything that is alive, or has been alive, like a fly, a decomposing organism, or anyone in this class."

"Congratulations you have accomplished nothing more than Mr. Neutron minus getting on the news at 8."

"Now that we've established that Mr. Neutron and Mr. Grayson have learned how to read a textbook; can anyone else in this room wake up for two seconds to answer my next question?"

Some people took their heads up off the desk to look at Mrs. Davis's glare and they were instantly awake.

The class continued in the same matter of Mrs. Davis criticizing anyone who had the nerve to try and answer a question until the bell rang.

"For tomorrow I want you all to come here with more knowledge than just the ability to mindlessly recite from a textbook." She said as everyone hurried to get out of the room A.S.A.P.

"We always seem to get the crazy teachers don't we?" Jimmy said to David.

"Seems to be." David said. "I'll see you later Jimmy."

The two split up, David heading off to English, and Jimmy, to History.

He walked carefully through the halls trying to avoid people's staring glances.

Once he got to class he looked around for any familiar faces but couldn't find any; he sat down at a desk in the back right corner trying to be inconspicuous.

The bell rang and Mr. Zack walked into the room.

"Settle down class."

Mr. Zack slowly took roll and like Mrs. Davis paused at Jimmy's name, but instead of making any kind of snide remarks he just continued on in his drawling voice.

After finishing he started reading from chapter one in the same slow, drawling voice until the bell finally rang.

As he was walking out of the room Sora walked up to him.

"Hey" She said.

"Hey."

"So how has class been?"

"I seem to have a knack for getting weird teachers. What about you?"

"It's been okay, a lot better than Silver Lake."

"Yeah." Jimmy thought back to his ordeals at Silver Lake. "Heck, I'm even surprised it stayed in operation as long as it did."

"Sterch had money, that was how."

"That would explain it."

"And on the subject of Sterch do you have psychology class?"

"Yeah, next hour. Why?"

"I just had it and you might want to listen."

"I'll remember that."

He walked to class and sat down; a group of girls shifted desks and crowded around him.

"Hi Jimmy."

"Hi, have we met?"

"No, my name is Christine, and I saw you on the news."

"You and the rest of the town."

"Oh," Christine said and backed away.

The other girls were trying to think of what to say when the bell rang.

Jimmy let out a sigh of relief as the girls went back to their desks and Mr. Beck walked in.

"Welcome students to psychology class, I am Mr. Beck, today we will begin studying from Chapter 1 about dreams."

This had to be what Sora was talking about. Jimmy for once was listening intently.

"Dreams are caused when images from the day or from memory are replayed in your head; dreams can often be distorted versions of real life events but they can be twisted to resemble something very unlike the original event."

"This must have been what Sora wanted me to hear."

He kept listening but not as intently as before because he knew what Sora was trying to tell him. She believed, like the others, that he was over exaggerating and these dreams were nothing more than distortions of real life.

Well he knew the dreams were real and that they were trying to tell him something and that was what mattered.

I'll leave it at that. Next chapter will be up soon, so why don't you tell me what you think and send me a review.


	4. Insane?

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been writing lately, school and writer's block

He knew the dreams were doing more than just trying to tell him something, for all he knew, they might've been trying to kill him; Sterch never could do a job right.

Chuckling to himself he thought, making light of death, when you've stared death in the face on a regular basis it really looses its impact.

"_What's that Jimmy? You're not afraid of me; you think I can never do a job right?"_

"_Well, hello again, where've you been the past few hours, on a coffee break?"_

"_Oh ha ha, very funny Jimmy, I never did teach you respect, did I?"_

"_Guess not, but keep talking, I enjoy these little chats."_

"_You will learn respect, one way or another."_

"_Yeah, you get right on that."_

The voice didn't respond, take that, he thought, Jimmy: 1 Sterch: 0

Looking up, he saw class was almost over and saw the homework on the board; finish reading chapter 1, man did his teachers from last year get reincarnated as his teachers this year?

The bell rang and he got up, next he had English with Mr. Edwards, he headed off in the direction of the class.

While he was walking he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around to see Cindy.

"Hey Cindy, what's up?"

"I can't just say hello? Are you too much of a celebrity to spend time with me?"

"Excuse me if the school administrators didn't put us in any classes together."

"Ha ha, what do you have next?"

"English with Edwards. You?"

"Same."

"Well, what a coincidence."

She leaned up and kissed him.

"You're silly, Mr. Neutron."

"Same to you, Ms. Vortex."

The two walked into the classroom together and sat next to each other.

The bell rang and Mr. Edwards walked in.

"Hello scholars, my name is Mr. Edwards." He said with a flamboyance that suggested way too much coffee. "I hope you're ready for a fun filled year of English!"

The whole class groaned; clearly this wasn't the response Mr. Edwards wanted but his overly large smile wasn't phased.

"What we're studying this exciting first semester is the tragedies of William Shakespeare. In Shakespearean tragedies they are normally divided into 5 acts, the 1st act is the exposition, the 2nd act is rising action, 3rd act is normally the act where things go from bad to worse…"

Jimmy stopped listening; he looked over at Cindy, why did he life seem to feel like a Shakespearean tragedy, nothing ever went right for too long in his life

"_You think your life is a tragedy now Jimmy?"_

"_So, you're back, what's your new plan?"_

"_You're wit seems to be increasing."_

"_Why can't you just crawl up in your grave and die?"_

"_A wandering soul cannot rest Jimmy, I can never rest until I take revenge on you."_

"_Well then, I hope you don't intend on resting anytime soon because I don't intend on dying anytime soon."_

"_You underestimate me Jimmy, I've had nothing to do but plan my revenge for all this time, I've studied every aspect, calculated everything."_

"_You underestimate me Sterch, didn't you learn I'm resourceful."_

"_I learned you're an arrogant brat"_

"_Touché, my friend, touché."_

"_Very funny Jimmy."_

Jimmy didn't respond, somehow Sterch was boring him, the analytical Sterch was a lot less fun to mess with then crazy Sterch; tempting death, was he sure he wasn't going insane?

"_Oh you don't know insane Jimmy."_

"_You again? Listen, you're boring me, do something interesting."_

"_Quit that psychological mumbo jumbo."_

"_What? Loosing your cool? Already? Sterch, you're loosing your touch."_

"_You have no idea what I have in store for you, arrogant boy."_

He didn't respond, Sterch was boring him, and everyone was staring at him.

Mental note, he thought to himself, never loose track of the lecture because the voices in your head are talking to you. He must be going insane, he thought.

"Jimmy," Cindy was whispering to him. "He asked you about the elements of a Shakespearean tragedy."

"Thanks." He whispered.

He recited the elements to Mr. Edwards; thankful he'd already learned them.

Ignoring the urge to talk more with Sterch's voice in his head or even just to think to himself, he listened to Mr. Edwards lecture.

After the class was over Jimmy walked out with Cindy.

"What do you have next?"

"Geometry, you?"

"Bio."

"With who?"

"Davis."

"She's a bitch, I'll warn you."

"Ha ha, very nice."

"Well, I'll see you later."

"Yeah, can I come over after school?"

"Of course you can, you don't even have to ask, you know that."

"Lately you've been acting funny, I feel like we're just friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend, you haven't called me or even given me a kiss in weeks."

He leaned down and kissed her. "I'm sorry, things have just been complicated."

"Oh come on Jimmy, you can tell me what's really up."

"I'll tell you this afternoon."

He walked away towards his next class.

If only I could tell her, he thought, but she wouldn't understand, she'd think I'm insane.

"_Are you sure you're not already insane?"_

"_Playing psychoanalysis now?"_

"_Have you ever thought about it? Hearing voices in your head, responding to them; does any of that sound sane to you"?_

"_This coming from Mr. Insanity himself, I think you should practice what you preach."_

"_Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy, I truly failed to teach you anything, didn't I?"_

"_You taught me to hate the name Sterch."_

"_And yet, you cringe when you say my name, you fear me."_

"_You wish, I've seen scarier things than you in my toilet."_

"_Then why is it that right now, you're scared"?_

"_I'm not."_

"_Please Jimmy, you think I'm dumb, I can tell you are."_

"_Fine, think that."_

Sterch was seriously starting to annoy him, couldn't he get a moment's peace?

He walked into geometry, his head still buzzing, why wouldn't Sterch shut up, his head was buzzing louder, he felt like he was going to fall over, his head was starting to ache. His whole world was starting to spin, then everything went dark, maybe he was dead, he felt peaceful.

Suddenly a bright light was shining on him, was that the bright light? Was he dead?

He opened his eyes, but the gates of heaven weren't in front of him. Something even better was, it was Cindy's face, her emerald green eyes as radiant as ever.

"Hey there Jimmy." She said.

"You blacked out," Sheen said. "It was seriously cool."

"No it wasn't," Kelly said. "You were yelling and twitching, it was seriously creepy."

"I'm confused."

"You passed out in the hall, then you started twitching and yelling about the book of shadows."

Jimmy felt a shiver down his spine; this was too creepy.

"Guys," He said, gulping. " I think I'm going crazy."

"What do you mean Jimmy?" Sora asked.

"I mean I hear Sterch's voice in my head, and it responds to me."

"Oh come on Jimmy." David said.

"I'm serious, I honestly think I'm going insane, crazier things have happened."

"Jimmy, hearing voices and responding to them is crazier than most things."

"I told you, I'm going insane, I think I've been going insane since the summer when these things first started happening."

"Have you been hearing the voices since then?"

"Give or take, and the dreams, I'm going insane."

"Jimmy, you know that the mind works in strange ways"

"I thought that, but this isn't normal, I think even a text book or psychoanalysis would say I'm crazy."

The school nurse walked up. "All of you, clear out, he needs his space."

All of them walked out.

"Now, my boy." She said walking up to the side of his bed. She put a thermometer under his tongue. "You say you're going insane."

He nodded, unsure of where this conversation was going.

"Everyone, including myself, knows your story, and let me tell you, what you're going through could be severe mental shock, hardly insanity."

He didn't care what she was saying, he'd heard it all before and he didn't care anymore, people liked comforting him for being insane, it all seemed like the same old sympathy you saw on TV. "Oh doctor she's going insane." The nurse would say. Then after she'd totally lost it, her family and friends would lean over the bed and speak in quiet, calm voices how everything would be ok, and who really gives a crap, the insane people know they're insane, no reason to pretend they don't know and act like their little kids.

The nurse finished her speech and he nodded trying to please her. She took the thermometer out.

"You're running a very high fever, but don't worry, your parents are already on their way."

Oh great involve his parents too; he knew how they would react. "Hugh call a doctor" "No sugar booger, I'll use the latest in maniac mallards magazine to cure old Jimbo."

He had to be going insane, he just knew it, there was no other explanation.

Somewhere, deep in the recesses of his mind, he heard laughing, joyful, maniacal laughter.

The plot thickens. I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, so why not give me your opinions, complaints, criticisms or praise, all in the form of a review.


End file.
